'French Exit' Actress Valerie Mahaffey Talks Being Authentic, Working with Azazel Jacobs, and Relaxing Into the Role
Valerie Mahaffey in FRENCH EXIT.
FRENCH EXIT is the latest film from director Azael Jacobs, which stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges as a zany mother-son pair who move to Paris to ride out their remaining inheritance. The film is hard to describe—both by nature of the film and in an effort to do so without giving away any spoilers—but the dark comedy is supported by an excellent supporting cast which includes actress Valerie Mahaffey as the unexpected friend, Madame Reynard.
The film is ripe with lots of quirky moments, whether that be in plot or character traits, and Mahaffey says that nearly all was found in the script when she read it. Through the course of the past year, she says that she has become a more authentic version of herself and has become a person who says what she means. This, in particular, allowed her to connect with both the director and her character. “When people say, ‘Oh, she’s so funny!’ I’m like…well, I suppose? But I suddenly didn’t approach things that way. I really wanted to never deliver something, you know? I wanted it to be really true.”
Michelle Pfeiffer in FRENCH EXIT.
While Madame Reynard can be seen as the comic relief of the film, she is linked to Pfeiffer’s character through tragedy and carries a heavy emotional depth that connects her to the audience. “So, I ignored the funny—just whatever happens, happens,” she begins as she discusses finding the balance in her character. “But she has a moment where she responds to Frances (Michelle Pfeiffer’s character) where she very plainly says, ‘I’m lonely.’ And that was sort of it for me.” Mahaffey also shares what playing the character taught her in her own life, saying that it made her re-evaluate relationships she had and how she may have treated people in the past. “You sometimes get to play somebody and you discover something about life and people that might have been in your life that you were really crappy to, and they’re perfectly lovely people . . . I love that I get to have empathy now for those people that might be seen as annoying.”
In talking about what she took from her character that can help her as she moves onto the next project, she cites a quote that she believes is credited to actor Jack Nicholson: “‘Acting is 10% preparation but 90% relaxation.’ In my early days, I didn’t know what that meant. But now, I do. Aza and the rest of the company—it starts with Aza, because he’s the director and he sets the tone—you could see it in his face that he was happy with me . . . and what happens is, when you relax—you have your plan that you can do if you have to—but when you relax, stuff happens in the middle of a take that you didn’t plan, but you’re able to receive it from wherever it’s coming from and do it and it’s a huge gift.”
Lucas Hedges and Danielle Macdonald in FRENCH EXIT.
With the past year causing a lot of people to do inner reflections and take inventory of what is important to them in life, the arts have experienced a resurrection as an essential societal function. On how this past year has made her reflect on herself both as a person and as an artist, Mahaffey says, “It’s time to divest of some things, to understand what’s been terrible about yourself (which is really sad!), but also to be kind to yourself . . . [in relating to the arts] there used to be a bit of an act—I didn’t want to offend people . . . but now my only job is to be authentic as a person, [and then] it kind of translates into your art and that has become pretty important to me.”